From Money Ball to precision medicine, the media around data analytics has reached a fever pitch. Stories abound about how data science has been applied to win the World Series, make millions, and even save lives. Many industry leaders now assert that data is not only the “next big thing,” but the basis of competitive advantage by increasing customer acquisition, accelerating productivity, transforming products and services, and the list goes on.

Here are just some of the ways data is impacting every layer of business:

It’s safe to say that data analytics is now a mainstream idea, but still has a ways to go before becoming mainstream in practice. Most companies today still struggle to move past the hype and actually transform their data into actionable insights.

Putting Data Analytics Within Reach

The emergence of the cloud has dramatically impacted our ability to capture and store vast amounts of data at unprecedented rates. In fact, more data was created in 2017 than the previous 5,000 years of humanity! The tools and techniques to aggregate and analyze that data have continued to evolve.

Advancements in data analytics platforms, such as Tableau or Power BI, have become highly practical, efficient, and user-friendly. Companies that are embracing these tools are finding that implementing an advanced analytics strategy to crush their competition is closer than they had originally thought.

Four Key Success Factors to Data Analytics Success

As advancements in technology enable an entirely different type of decision-making across all sectors, companies need to begin to incorporate more data sources, better tools, and strategic frameworks to gain a leg up on their competition.

When incorporating data analytics into your business, here are four key success factors to consider:

1. Start with business goals: A critical first step is to clearly define your business goals. This will help you align the right people, process, and technology that will have the greatest impact.
2. Consolidate data into one central source of truth: Data is never delivered in pretty packages. You’ll need to integrate your disparate data into cloud storage before you can glean any real insights.
3. Utilize proper resources, processes, and tools: Cloud-based data analytics tools come in many shapes and sizes. Make sure you’ve been advised on which tool works best for your needs, work culture, and budget.
4. Implement a strategic change management strategy: It’s not the solution itself that creates data-driven business – it’s the people! Don’t overlook the importance of a proper change management strategy to get your people leveraging data analytics to make more informed decisions.

To be successful, data transformation is a holistic process that takes a number of factors into account. Partnering with a trusted solution provider can allow companies to leverage specialized data analytic capabilities on an as-needed basis.